The present invention relates to groupware systems and more particularly, to a groupware system in which an agent unit allows cooperative operation of schedule, mail, document management and work flow functions.
There exists a groupware system which organically cooperatively combines a schedule function (system) of registering a schedule in the form of electronic data and managing a schedule, a mail function of sending/receiving and editing electronic mails, a function of work flow corresponding to a definition of routine tasks in accordance with a predetermined flow of jobs, and a document management function of electronically managing documents and allowing registration, retrieval and reference thereof, as disclosed in "Integrated Groupware Package", a journal "HITACHI Hyoron", Vol. 77, No. 5(1995-5), P31. There also exists such a groupware system that these functions are activated at the same time so that a plurality of user can use these functions through a client unit.
In a general groupware system, a server apparatus and a plurality of client apparatuses are connected through a network.
The server apparatus includes a schedule server for implementing individual functions in the groupware system, a mail server, a document management server, and a workflow server. Connected to the respective servers in the server apparatus are databases (DBs) for storing information necessary for the respective functions respectively. More specifically, the schedule server is connected with a schedule management database for storing schedule information therein. Similarly, the mail server is connected with a mail management database, the document management server is with a document management database, and the workflow server is with a workflow management database.
Each of the client units includes a schedule client, a mail client, a document management client and a workflow client.
The server apparatus, for example, in response to a request from the schedule client of the client apparatus through a network, realizes the schedule function based on the schedule server and the schedule management database. The mail function, document management function and workflow function are similarly implemented individually.
When it is desired to update schedule information, mail information, document information and workflow information stored in the respective databases connected to the associated servers of the server apparatus, or when it is desired to modify some of schedule, document management and workflow operations according to the states of the clients of the client apparatus or to the states of the respective servers of the server apparatus; it has been necessary to define or update the information for the individual groupware functions update.
For example, when a user in one of the client apparatuses modified the schedule, it may be required to change the mail, document management and workflow operations. In such a case, in the prior art, a request of the schedule client of the client apparatus in question causes the schedule server of the server apparatus to register a new schedule in a schedule management database under its own control. Thereafter, since the new schedule changes the mail, document management and workflow operations, it has been required that, in response to a request of the mail client of the client apparatus in question, the mail server of the server apparatus update the mail management database under its own control; in response to a request of the document management client of the client apparatus in question, the document management server of the server apparatus update the document management database under its own control; and, in response to a request of the workflow client of the client apparatus in question, the workflow server of the server apparatus update the workflow management database under its own control, respectively.
In this way, when a generation of an event (such as modification of the schedule) causes modification of a series of operations, this troublesomely involves definition or information change for each of mechanisms (servers) supporting the respective operations, which is highly inconvenient from the operational view point.